The present disclosure relates to the analysis of mental of mental health disorder symptoms using sentiment analysis.
Mental health disorders including, for example, bi-polar disorder, may begin during early childhood and may continue into adulthood. Bi-polar disorder, for example, may be characterized by intense mood swings that include emotional highs (e.g. euphoric feelings) and lows (e.g., depression). The mood shifts may occur only a few times a year or as often as several times a week. The Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation estimates that at least three quarters of a million American children and teens may suffer from bipolar disorder, although many are not diagnosed. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in a given year, bipolar disorder affects about 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6% of the U.S. population 18 and older.
According to Center for Quality Assessment and Improvement in Mental Health, bipolar disorder is frequently unrecognized, under diagnosed, and inappropriately treated. For example, patients generally do not recognize or spontaneously report the symptoms of mania, e.g., a mental illness marked by periods of great excitement, euphoria, delusions, and overactivity, and hypomania, e.g., a mild form of mania, marked by elation and hyperactivity, as they view these periods as normal happiness or well-being.
Forms, such as, for example, the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) and the Bipolar Disorder Symptoms & Functioning Monitoring Form, both published by the center for quality assessment and improvement in mental health (CQAIMH), have been designed to aid clinicians in the screening of present and past episodes of mania and hypomania. However the accuracy of the data found in these forms may be questionable because the forms may be incorrectly filled out.